Hookshot Inc. is a website about downloadable video games that cost $15 or less.
We patrol a wild and hectic new frontier in video games, taking aim at the titles that deserve attention – and pulling them directly into the lives of busy players.

Kentucky Route Zero: hick chic

‘Hick chic’ is probably the best thing I am going to do today. Admittedly, it’s a term that looks better written down than said aloud, but hey-ho, it’s Tuesday morning and I still have the post-GameCity blues.

Borderlands 2 chose the Bible Belt for its patois and aesthetic but it was very much a fun-poking take on the Deep South. Kentucky Route Zero, by contrast, has the ambiance of a melancholic Coen Brothers movie, a tender, quiet celebration of the beautiful landscapes to be found in America’s belly orchestrated by illustrator Tamas Kemenczy.

The soundtrack, performed by in-game band The Bedquilt Ramblers appears to be a thing of great and thoughtful beauty too, as exemplified by this lilting take on the bluegrass standard What Would You Give (a track which I used to intro the Reads Like A Seven event at GameCity on Friday).

The game’s split into five chapters, the first of which is set for release before Christmas, presumably for PC and Mac – although there appear to be no certain details on this as yet. Subscribe to the game’s announcements on the official site here.